Peter King: Cowboys Won't Do Anything Stupid For Peterson

Leading up to the draft at the end of this month, we don’t expect the rumors linking the Dallas Cowboys and Adrian Peterson to slow down any.

After all, Jerry Jones has always been a fan of Peterson, and it always seemed that he’d jump at any opportunity to put him in blue and silver. Now, that opportunity seems closer than ever. The four-time Pro Bowler is eligible for reinstatement next week, and just about all we’ve heard from Peterson’s camp suggests that he doesn’t want to return to Minnesota.

But SI’s Peter King declared in his MMQB column this week that, at this point, we shouldn’t expect Jones to be blinded by his adoration of Peterson when considering the Cowboys’ situation at running back.

“I can tell you that neither of those teams, Dallas or Arizona, is going to do something stupid for Peterson,” King writes. “They don’t have to. This draft is too good at running back, and the two teams, as of the close of business Tuesday, are pretty snug up against the cap, considering they still have rookies to sign. Dallas has about $12.8 million available, and Arizona $9.1 million.”

In the past, King concedes, breaking the bank to land a 30-year-old running back with a a huge name and an ACL tear in his past would sound like just the kind of move Jerry would make. But he’s seen a change in the Dallas owner of late.

“It’s clear that, today, Peterson is a better player than anyone the Cards or Cowboys could draft. But trading for Peterson under these conditions would be a 2005 Jerry Jones move,” King argues. “In 2014 the Cowboys could have been impetuous and drafted Johnny Manziel. They didn’t. They chose guard Zack Martin, one of the best rookie linemen to come into the NFL in years. Worked out well for them.”